Concrete Pavement Preservation Integrating Engineering Application and the Environment

Concrete Pavement Preservation (CPP) is a series of engineered techniques developed over the past 40 years to manage the rate of pavement deterioration in concrete streets, highways and airports. CPP is a non-overlay option used to repair areas of distress in concrete pavement without changing its grade. This rational, preventive procedure restores the pavement to a condition close to or better than original and reduces the need for major and more costly repairs later. Due to the growing popularity of CPP, an increasing number of research projects focused on the application and benefits of CPP have been initiated and completed during the past decade. The focus of this paper is engineering application related to CPP with an emphasis on dowel bar retrofit and diamond grinding. The paper is presented in three sections. The first outlines the available treatments used for concrete pavement preservation. The second section is focused on current research related to these treatments and highlights the benefits and lessons learned while applying these treatments over the past 40 years. The final section discusses the environmental benefits of CPP and its role in today’s environmentally responsible and sustainable transportation marketplace.